A longtime resident of Uxbridge, Ted Barris has written professionally for 40 years - for radio, television, magazines and newspapers. The "Barris Beat" column began in the 1950s when his father Alex wrote for the Globe and Mail. Ted continues the tradition of offering a positive view of his community. He has written 16 non-fiction books of Canadian history and teaches journalism at Centennial College in Toronto.
Between the eyes question
Everybody's been talking about it this week. Most people have an opinion. Some blame gangs. Others point their fingers at government. A few say the courts are too lenient. But just about everybody has something to say about guns and gun crime. It came up at the milk store the other day. One man looked at it this way.
“Hey, it could be a lot worse,” he said. “Look at Detroit.”
OK, look at Detroit. In 2010, Detroit recorded 308 shootings. According to the Detroit News, during just five days this past May 2012, there were eight homicides and 33 shootings. Also alarming is that Detroit is sixth among the 25 largest cities in the U.S. And last Monday, in Detroit, a four-year-old girl was playing in a car glove compartment, came across a handgun and accidentally shot herself. What kind of society allows loaded guns to sit in car glove compartments? Here's my point: These tragic incidents, I think, may well be in our future unless we address a vital question: Who needs a gun?
On Monday, there was a summit among three key decision-makers in discussions about gun violence in the GTA (don't kid yourself, it's not that far away): Premier Dalton McGuinty, Mayor Rob Ford and Toronto Police Service Chief Bill Blair. They met amid news that so far in Toronto this year, there have been 200 shootings. Last week alone 31 people were shot and four died. (For the record, that's 44 more shootings than to this date last year.) By most standards, the triumvirate was successful. There was positive news - money for the TPS's Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy and consensus that the three will work together to support at-risk youth and clamp down on gangs.
However, nobody dealt with the elephant in the room. Who needs a gun?
None of the three men wanted to address the real problem. The mayor said he doesn't approve of the “hug a thug” approach to guns and gangs. He just wants gangs run out of town. But didn't he just cut the Toronto police budget by five per cent? The police chief got an extension of his police anti-crime task force. And the premier seemed eager to offer help with the best solution he can offer - cash. Ironically, he seems to favour a ban on handguns, but doesn't like to say the phrase particularly around election time. Odd, if he really did support a ban, all he has to do is dust off a report he commissioned in 2007.
“The Roots of Youth Violence Report,” co-authored by MPP Alvin Curling and former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry, was sparked in part by the shooting death of Grade 9 student Jordan Manners in 2007. Among hundreds of pages of initiatives on housing, racism, mental health and social services, the report also addresses my question. You have to look closely, but if you turn to Section 25 of the Recommendations for the Premier, the report gives Mr. McGuinty just the ammunition - you'll pardon the expression - he needs.
“To reduce the risk of serious violence,” the report said, “the Province should continue to press the federal government to implement a handgun ban in Ontario, and should also explore every feasible initiative it might take itself… while the federal government continues to permit these guns in Ontario apartments and homes.”
I heard Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson interviewed on CBC Radio this week. And when pressed about gun violence he kept referring to the strength of the Harper government's current “mandatory minimum” as a way to keep gun abusers in jail. He also trumpeted his homeland security initiatives that, he said, have seized 30,000 illegal weapons at the Canada/U.S. border since 2006. But, no, he didn't answer my question either.
Who needs a gun? I'll try to answer the question. A police officer needs a sidearm. Probably trained guards protecting money transport require them. Some Conservation Officers are licensed to carry a handgun. Certain ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces on deployment and Canadian military police are issued them. And, yes, because Team Canada is en route to the Olympics in London, there are two men's and women's .22-caliber pistol events, and two men's and women's .177-caliber air pistol events. Beyond them, who needs a gun?
I know I won't change the minds of those who feel their civil “rights” might be threatened by a handgun ban. I have news for those people; owning a handgun is NOT enshrined in Canada's Constitution (nor, in fact, is it in the U.S. Constitution). I know I won't influence some of my farmer or hunter friends; they too feel threatened by any gun regulations. But if preventing another Danzig Street shooting, or losing a son or daughter from an accidental handgun discharge, means you can't have that handgun collection, I ask you, who needs a gun?
For other Barris Beat columns go to www.tedbarris.com
